saying gender is not a construct is a strong/radical statement in the context of theory

To be clear, I’m saying gender identity isn’t a social construct (gender roles definitely are). And that’s hardly a radical statement given that there is a genetic factor to being trans, as evidenced by e.g. twin studies like this one which found a much higher amount of cases where both twins are trans among identical twins (who have the same genetic code) than non-identical twins. Also, like I mentioned before, a lot of trans people feel considerable relief to their own gender dysphoria upon seeking hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries, which is quite hard to explain on a social basis.

I can see why this idea would seem appealing to agender people. But that’s taking one’s personal case and turning it into a statement about gender as a whole. Gender having a biological component isn’t at odds with agender or NB people, but claiming gender is socially constructed is indeed problematic, like I said before.

The rationale that many people follow is that if gender is socially constructed, it can be socially changed as well (through conversion therapy) to make your kid align with their assigned gender at birth, which doesn’t work in reality.

I’ll just copy-paste what I said last time:

The idea that gender is entirely socially constructed is easily the greatest misconception about gender that gets repeated time and again – almost always by cis people, who never think too much about it because they’ve never had to reconsider their own gender.

Gender roles and gender stereotypes really are socially constructed, like the idea that some clothes are feminine and others are masculine, just to name one example. Gender identity, however, is not. If that was true, like the previous commenter was saying, conversion therapy for trans people would work, when it’s been shown it absolutely doesn’t. Gender dysphoria isn’t a social construct either. Many trans people see their own lives improve considerably after taking HRT (hormone therapy) and having gender-affirming surgeries – how can that be explained socially? Also, we know there is a genetic component to being trans as well, because of twin studies. All of which shows there really is a biological component to gender – just not in the “gender = genitals” way that transphobes think.

I bet the guy wasn’t sober when he did that. He probably still thinks that way – alcohol doesn’t make people lie, it makes them far too honest – but realized the next day that the way he had acted was screwed up.

I don’t want to come out to people, telling them that I feel like a woman, when I look and sound like a man.

I understand where that comes from, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think the same way when I started transitioning. I pretty much never corrected people when they misgendered me, because I didn’t want to get in their way. I felt as if I hadn’t earned being a woman yet. Now I understand that gender isn’t something you earn. You deserve being treated for who you are, despite how you look or sound like.

I’ve been on HRT for 7 months or so, and I just don’t look feminine.

HRT is basically puberty 2.0, and puberty takes many, many years to complete. I know how frustrating it is to wait for the changes, but that should also give you hope. Even if you don’t like how you look now, that can and probably will change over the years.

It’s nice to see more poetry around here

That phrase comes from people who are either stuck in the closet, or in denial about their own sexuality. It is just one of the many byproducts of a society that still insists on considering that being straight is the only “normal” way of being.

For the last time, girls don’t do this stuff for attention. People keep saying that because they don’t take sapphic relationships seriously.

Who cares about poetry.
/s obviously

We already have “trans pride” and “gender envy”, what about trans sloth?

Now it’s more important than ever to go. We need to show the transphobes and homophobes out there that we LGBTQ+ people and our allies are far more numerous than they think.

Thanks a lot! Yes, a lot of what I’ve written about were things I’ve personally been through, or experiences I’ve heard from other trans people. I’ve also wanted to have several trans women in the book precisely so I could cover a lot of different stories. Also, the mares thing was inspired by conjugated estrogens that people used as HRT in the past.

As for the ending, it’s supposed to catch you off-guard, so I’m glad I managed to pull that off lol. You spend most of the book not knowing much about Julia, up until the very end, and then it becomes clear why she acted the way she did throughout the whole book.

Thank you!

It’s depressing that the original one was changed in the first place – our existence can’t even be acknowledged in a video game without people collectively freaking out… Well, at least they fixed it now.

God I hate medical gatekeeping. Good luck to you

You’ve commented on some of the previous ones too, right? Thank you, I really appreciate it.

<3

Thank you!

This is the last poem I wanted to share here.

I’d like to thank you all for reading, and I sincerely appreciate all of your kind comments. I’m glad to know my poems resonated with so many people – that’s why I wanted to share them here, in the first place.

The only thing I still have to share is a short novel I wrote, that I mentioned in an earlier comment, but it’s still being reviewed. Who knows how long it will take. And of course, I know I’ll keep writing – but inspiration is fickle and hard to come by. I may come back with something else in the future.

Thanks again!